Boat bow step

ABSTRACT

A device for providing a step on the bow of a boat comprises a flat upper step member, a lower stabilizing member having a notched cavity for engaging the bow of the boat and a support member attached to and extending between the upper and lower members.

llnited States Patent 1191 Young Aug. 13, 1974 [54] BOAT BOW STEP3,281,874 11/1966 $11011 9/1 T [76] Inventor: John P. Young, 4000 ViaVaquero Ave., Las Vegas, Nev. 89102 Primary Examiner-George E. A.Halvosa Assistant ExaminerStuart M. Goldstein [22] Flled' 1973 Attorney,Agent, or Firm.lerry R. Seiler [2]] Appl. No.: 331,784

52 U.S. c1. 114/.5 R, 182/92 [571 ABSTRACT [51] lnt. Cl B63b 35/00 Adevice for providmg a step on the bow of a boat [58] Field of Search114/5 g g 5 1 comprises a flat upper step member, a lower stabilizingmember having a notched cavity for engaging the R f d bow of the boatand a support member attached to UNITE]; 5:52:28 I ZTENTS and extendingbetween the upper and lower members.

2,669,733 2/1954 Picker 114/.5 R 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENIEAUI: 1 31974 3.82am)? IIIIII FIGURE I.

FIGURE 5..

FIGURE 4.

BOAT BOW STEP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Often it is desired to embarkor disembark from a boat at its bow. This is particularly true inpleasure craft such as motor boats, yachts of various sizes, sail boatsand the like adjacent a beach or similar natural docking areas. Forexample, it will be appreciated that where an operator of a pleasurecraft wishes to bring a boat close to a shore line so that the passengeror crew member may leave the boat for a picnic, camping or otherrecreation on the shore, it is desirable to have the boat as close toshore as possible so that the passengers may avoid swimming or wading indeep water which is obviously most inconvenient when supplies are to becarried. Moreover, since the motor and props are located aft, to attemptto back the boat into the shore is dangerous and may result in damage toa propeller or the boats stern which is usually not as sturdy inconstruction as the reinforced bow.

On the other hand, unless a boat is of very low or shallow freeboarddesign, the bow deck is quite high above the water line which makesdisembarking at the bow usually quite inconvenient. Although varioustypes of bow ladders have. been proposed, they are often cumbersome touse and stow due to their relatively long length. Moreover, because ofsignificant differences between different boat design and bow hardware,and especially between sail and power boats, available bow ladders arenot usually interchangeable between boats of these different types.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention toprovide a device which creates a step for the bow of the boat. Thedevice is relatively simple in design, versatile for all types ofpleasure boats and craft and may be easily installed and removed. Thedevice of the invention comprises a flat upper step member on which apassenger may rest or place his foot at a convenient distance from thebow deck when disembarking. Spaced apart from the upper member is alower member or yoke having a notched cavity for engaging the bowthereby stabilizing the device from substantial lateral movement and asupport member attached to and extending between these upper and lowermembers. The device is also provided with a hook or similar memberprojecting from the top of the flat upper member for securing the deviceto an eyelet or similar hardware extending from the boat bow therebysecuring the device vertically. The advantages of such a device will beevident from the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view ofthe bow step device of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of a modification of the upper stepmember;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the device installed on a boat bow;and

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional elevation taken along line A-A of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a boatbow step of the invention comprises an upper step member 12 which has agenerally flat upper surface to provide a step on which a person mayplace his foot when embarking or disembarking from a boat bow deck.Spaced apart from the upper step member is a yoke or lower stabilizingmember 14 having a generally V-shaped cavity located between a pair ofarms 22 and 24 extending as shown in FIG. 2. The device is furthersupported by rigid support member 16 which is attached to and extendsbetween the upper and lower members.

Upper step imember 12 may be provided with carpet or pad 18 as shown onall or any portion of its upper surface which carpet or pad will cushionthe step surface. The use of such a carpet or pad will prevent slippingwhich feature is especially important since a user may have wet feet,especially when embarking. Any suitable and preferably water resistantmaterial such as rubber, plastic or synthetic carpet may be convenientlyused for this purpose. The upper member should also be of a size toprovide a sufficiently large and convenient step for a user to place afoot on. Moreover, it should be placed forwardly with respect to thelower stabilizing member so that when secured on a bow, the lower memberwill be urged against the bow.

Observing further FIG. 2, the lower stabilizing member may be of anyconvenient shape. However, a pair of arms 22 and 24 or similar angularlyprojecting means are required between which a cavity is located forreceiving a portion of a boat bow. The interior surface 27 of each armshould be angled so that the cavity therebetween is V-shaped. Thus,these interior surfaces will lie against the bow surface and give thedevice added stability. It may also be preferable to utilize a pad orcushion 25 for lining the interior of the cavity as shown in order toprevent scratching or marring the bow against the interior cavitysurface.

Observing also FIG. 4, it will be noted that the upper and lower members12 and 14 are displaced or offset from one another in relation to thevertical angle of the bow. Accordingly, when the device is attached tothe boat, the back or rear edge 15 of upper member 12 will be adjacentthe surface of the bow. However, since the bow slants angularly fromvertical as seen in FIG. 4, a similar angular displacement is requiredbetween the back edge 15 of upper member 12 and crotch 21 of the cavityformed in lower member 14. Moreover, support member 16 must also beshaped so that it will not interfere with the bow. Yet, it will beunderstood that the extent to which the upper and lower members aredisplaced or offset horizontally may depend on the angle of a slantedbow with respect to vertical. However, a single device may be used ondifferent boats and the step surface of upper member 12 will besubstantially horizontal or at least close enough to provide aconvenient step unless bow angle differences are significant. Althoughsupport member 16 is shown as a single piece, it may be in any form suchas metal braces and the like so as to achieve the same purpose ofmaintaining separation between the upper and lower members while beingof sufficient rigidity and strength to support the upper step memberhorizontally.

In order to provide adjustment for different bow slopes, as shown inFIGS. 2 and 5, lower member 14 includes a groove 34 along its uppersurface in which the lower end of support member 16 is received. A slot38 is provided through lower member 14 into which slot a pair of longscrews 36 extend. Observing particularly FIG. 5, the upper threaded endof screw 36 is threadedly secured into support member 16. Thus, byloosening the screws, lower member 14 may be adjusted along slot 38until its desired position is achieved and the screws can then betightened. Other equivalent means for providing adjustment of the lowermember may also be used. However, this adjustable feature is optionaland the support member 16 may be permanently secured to lower member 14if desired.

A hook member 20 is provided and extends upwardly from the upper member12 for attaching the device to eyelet 28 or similar member installed ona boat bow as shown in FIG. 4. When the device is to be used, the hook20 is simply inserted so as to engage eyelet 28 which stabilizes thedevice vertically along boat bow 32. The arms 22 and 24 of the lowermember extend along each side of the bow which is received in thecavity. Once installed, a user or operator may disembark by steppingfrom the boat deck 30 onto the surface of upper member 12 and then intoshallow water or onto the shore. It will be appreciated that the devicemay even be used as a ladder by swimmers in deep water. The hook membershould also be secured to the upper member at or at least slightlyforward of the center of balance of the device. In this manner, when thedevice is attached to the bow, the balance will be such that the yoke orlower member will be urged toward the bow and the bow will become nestedin the open lower member cavity and maintained in that position withoutfurther adjustment or positioning.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment whereby the end of upperplatform 12 may also be notched for receiving the bow in the same manneras previously described regarding lower member 14. Such an embodimentmay provide further lateral stabilization although it will not usuallybe required.

The device may be produced from wood, metal or rigid plastic, preferablyof a material that will be lightweight but which will float in case itis inadvertently dropped into the water and yet which will be ofsufficient rigidity and strength to adequately support the body weightof the user. Accordingly, the specific shape of the step may also bemodified as desired as may the other components so long as they achievethe desired purpose of the invention as described herein. These as wellas other modifications within the purview of the invention will beevident to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. A bow step device for being secured along the inclined bow of a boatbetween the deck and the water line comprising:

a horizontal step member having a flat upper surface,

a stabilizing member located below said step and spaced therefrom andhaving a forward end extending outwardly from said bow and a rearwardend having a cavity for receiving a portion of said bow, and

a rigid support member having upper and lower ends and extending betweensaid step and stabilizing member, said upper end secured to said stepmember and said lower end secured to said stabilizing member.

2. The device of claim 1 including means secured to said step member forattaching said device to said bow.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said means comprises a hook.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said hook member is secured to saidupper member at least slightly forward of the center balance of thedevice whereby the lower member will be urged against the bow when saidhook member is secured to the bow.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said step has a forward end and arearward end and said support member has a forward edge and a rearwardedge and whereby said forward edge is secured to said stabilizing memberadjacent said forward end.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said bow receiving cavity is V shapedwith the narrow portion thereof directed toward said forward end of saidstabilizing member.

7. The device of claim 6 wherein the rearward edge of said supportmember is secured to said stabilizing member adjacent said cavity and tosaid step member adjacent said rearward end.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein said device includes means foradjusting the relative position of said step and stabilizing members.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein said adjustment means comprises anelongated slot extending through said stabilizing member and one or morescrew members extending through said slot and threadedly secured to saidsupport member.

1. A bow step device for being secured along the inclined bow of a boatbetween the deck and the water line comprising: a horizontal step memberhaving a flat upper surface, a stabilizing member located below saidstep and spaced therefrom and having a forward end extending outwardlyfrom said bow and a rearward end having a cavity for receiving a portionof said bow, and a rigid support member having upper and lower ends andextending between said step and stabilizing member, said upper endsecured to said step member and said lower end secured to saidstabilizing member.
 2. The device of claim 1 including means secured tosaid step member for attaching said device to said bow.
 3. The device ofclaim 2 wherein said means comprises a hook.
 4. The device of claim 3wherein said hook member is secured to said upper member at leastslightly forward of the center balance of the device whereby the lowermember will be urged against the bow when said hook member is secured tothe bow.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein said step has a forward endand a rearward end and said support member has a forward edge and arearward edge and whereby said forward edge is secured to saidstabilizing member adjacent said forward end.
 6. The device of claim 5wherein said bow receiving cavity is V shaped with the narrow portionthereof directed toward said forward end of said stabilizing member. 7.The device of claim 6 wherein the rearward edge of said support memberis secured to said stabilizing member adjacent said cavity and to saidstep member adjacent said rearward end.
 8. The device of claim 1 whereinsaid device includes means for adjusting the relative position of saidstep and stabilizing members.
 9. The device of claim 8 wherein saidadjustment means comprises an elongated slot extending through saidstabilizing member and one or more screw members extending through saidslot and threadedly secured to said support member.